Who creates the Monsters?
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Commissioner Gordon is forced to rethink his relationship with Batman when he sees firsthand just how much the vigilante is part of the problem instead of being a solution when the Joker goes on a murder spree, and it hits close to home.


I don't own Batman.

A/N - I've always been fascinated by the idea that Batman's very existence creates monsters - Joker, Riddler, Scarecrow, and attracts others like Bane and Ra's Al Ghul. But what if someone challenged him on that, someone who was his ally?

* * *

Who creates the monsters?

Crouched on top of a roof, the shining beam of light signifying the beaming light of the Bat-Signal above his head, Batman was curious about what Commissioner Gordon wanted to speak to him about since the police officer knew full well he was going on an extensive patrol of the far west of the city.

As he watched through his compact binoculars at the top of GCPD's roof where the Bat-Signal was kept and maintained by the police as part of their agreements, Batman saw that his old friend was agitated as he scouted the area in case the like of Two-Face or the Riddler were nearby, but he could see nothing.

Deeming the coast was clear, Batman took out the grapnel gun form the utility belt, and swung all the way down to the rooftop. The entire thing went so quickly it was a miracle the Commissioner didn't jump and react.

After a few seconds of watching Jim pace up and down, Batman noticed with growing concern as his friend showed that he was angry as he paced. Puzzled, Batman stepped out of the shadows. "Jim," he began as he watched the Commissioner jump, startled as he finally made his appearance, "Is everything all right?"

Jim Gordon sniffed. "No, Batman, everything is not alright," he replied.

Batman's eyes narrowed underneath the cowl, was that…anger that he could hear in Jim Gordon's voice.

Now Batman was even more confused by what this was all about, it wasn't a feeling he got often during his career but there were moments where he became puzzled. They usually happened when he was investigating a case. It was extremely rare when his friend was angry with him, but moments like this did happen.

"What's happened?" Batman asked, deciding that he wasn't going to play games.

Jim's lined eyes narrowed at him. "You mean you haven't heard?" he asked incredulously while he shut down the Bat-signal. "What's happened is that seventeen people have died tonight. What's happened is that _six _were cops, two traffic cops, one rookie, and three detectives. The other ten were a number of children, between the ages of _three _and nine were murdered as well, by the Joker!"

Batman groaned. He hadn't known the Joker had escaped Arkham again, but then again he had gone under radio silence so then Oracle wouldn't be able to reach him. "Jim, " he began honestly, "I didn't know…," he trailed off as he tied to think of a way he could explain, but he decided to just admit it, but fortunately Gordon seemed willing to listen to him; that was a good sign, though he wasn't sure just how good it was since Jim had limits on his patience like everyone else.

"I was looking into bringing down a chain of mobsters out on the west side," Batman explained, "and I went in without any means of communication. I honestly did not know."

"No," Gordon's voice was as cold of arctic water. "You didn't know. You also didn't know that when I got to the hospital, one of the children - five-year-old children who had been born with a condition which left her bound to a _wheelchair, _in case you're wondering - was in the middle of dying from a massive dose of Joker Venom!"

Batman flinched.

It was bad enough a child had died because of a dose of Joker Venom, but the mention of the wheelchair had definitely hurt. Barbara Gordon was permanently wheelchair-bound after being brutally crippled by the Joker, and it was obvious to Jim the Joker had done it deliberately to spite him. It was the kind of sick move the Joker was famous for.

"Where…where is the Joker now?" Batman asked, cursing himself for stumbling.

"Is that regret I hear in your voice?" Jim taunted him in a manner that was most unlike him and took Batman by surprise. "You should be. If you had dealt with that cackling lunatic properly over the years, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Batman stilled. He could not believe what he had just heard; the implication in that statement had taken him by surprise. And it worried him that the _**Commissioner **_of Gotham City Police would even say something like that. What separated him from other vigilantes was he did not kill any criminal he came across even if another vigilante who had chosen to kill would have done because he knew he was better than that, he was already crossing delicate lines which were blurred enough as it was.

When he had begun as Gotham city's protector - unwanted by the city or not - Batman had made it clear to his allies who didn't know who he was in real life, he had made it clear that he was not a murderer even if it was justified. Jim had always supported that in the past, but Batman hoped and prayed that he was only speaking in anger, and not with a belief that had been festering beneath the surface of their alliance. He knew there had been moments of tension between them in the past, but they had never broken out, not like this.

"No-one knows where the Joker is now," Jim said after a moment; Batman had the chilling belief his old friend had waited for that length of time to see for himself the reaction to his words. The fact his friend had done such a thing worried Batman. "He and that cackling, insane whore who took a fancy to him in Arkham have vanished as quickly as they came, but the few surviving witnesses of his homicide tonight made it clear they vanished together in the night. No-one knows their whereabouts."

"I'll keep a lookout," Batman promised.

"I don't want you involved."

Batman looked at his old friend in surprise. "You don't want me involved?" he repeated, unwilling to believe Jim would say something like that when he knew the Joker better than most, "But you will need my help-."

"I don't you involved, Batman," Gordon repeated firmly. "I don't want your help because enough is enough. The Joker has been a threat to Gotham for a long time now, and he isn't the only one. Every time he or someone else like Killer Croc or Two-Face appear, people get killed, and all they get is a slap on the wrist and incarceration. It has to stop."

Batman was instantly defensive. "They can be helped-!"

"Who are you fooling?!" Gordon shouted. "You're either delusional, or you just lack common sense. Joker…helped? Yeah, right. How many times has that _bastard _been sent to Arkham, whose security is a joke? How many times has he or one of the others escaped? How many times have doctors tried to help him, and he either ignored them or murdered them? Look at Harley Quinn; he twisted that poor, stupid little weakling around his finger, and look at her now, she's as sick as he is, and yet whenever she's in Arkham, she doesn't want to be helped."

"Jim-," Batman tried again to make his friend see reason, but Gordon was not listening.

"No, I'm not listening. I have taken a lot of flak from you, but tonight after you didn't bother to turn up, I need time to rethink our relationship," Gordon said, looking at him with something in his eyes that Batman could not decipher. "For a long time, people have condemned me for supporting you. As of right now, because you simply refuse to do anything meaningful to deal with the criminals in this city, never mind the so-called supervillains, I am withdrawing my support."

Batman whispered in shock. "What?"

"What did you think was going to happen tonight, Batman?" Jim said, his voice low and regretful. "But you are part of the problem. I see that now, and I was an idiot not too. You created half of the monsters in this city; it is because of you that crook fell into that vat of acid and became the Joker. It's because of you so many criminals have evolved into monsters. You brought all of this onto Gotham, making them change because they are afraid of you in that getup you wear. You have also attracted threats with the Justice League. I can't have it anymore. I have already given orders for the Joker and Harley Quinn to be shot, preferably in the head to finalise the deal, on sight. My orders have already won approval with the GCPD; the loss of six of our people has shaken morale, and if we just bring the bastard and the bitch in, we will be spitting on their graves. Don't get involved - this is police business, and you just a vigilante. At this moment," he sighed and looked down to make it clear that what he was saying was hard for him to say as it was for Batman to listen to, "you are just another criminal, and you not above the law."

With that, Jim Gordon turned around and walked away.

It was the end of the partnership between Batman and Jim Gordon, Commissioner of Gotham City police.


End file.
